The Outer Limits (1963) s02e03 Episode Script

Behold, Eck!

( man) Since the first living thing gazed upward through the darkness, man has seldom been content merely to be born , to endure and to die. With a curious fervour, he has struggled to unlock the mysteries of Creation and of the world in which he lives. Sometimes he has won . Sometimes he has lost. And sometimes, in the tumbling torrents of space and time, he has brief glimpses of a world he never even dreams. - You say you found it like this? - Yes. All right, miss. Thank you . We'll be in touch. Sergeant. - Oh, Dr Stone? - Mm? - Dr Stone? - Yes. Yes. l'm Detective Lieutenant Runyan . This is Sergeant Jackson . We can 't figure it out, Doctor. This is the fifth optical lab that's been destroyed. What kind of a weirdo would do such a thing? Probably someone who just doesn 't like spectacles. (clicks fingers) lt's very interesting. Very interesting. ls he always like that? - He's a very brilliant man . - ln what way? For one thing, he's one of the world's foremost authorities on optical geometry, and if you'd ever read his articles on the laws of rectilinear propagation Thanks, miss. Some other time. How will l see without these? l don 't suppose we have another pair? Unless you try Prescription 1 09. lt's close to yours. - 1 09? - The special lenses you designed for correcting aberrational astigmatism. - They seem to work well as reading glasses. - Oh, yes. l remember. - We made several of these, didn 't we? - Yes, four pairs. The others went to patients with double vision . - lt was on an experimental basis - Did they work? The reports have been on your desk for two weeks. Wilkenson had a beard. They're here if you want to see them. l can call them and have them make appointments. -No. Thank you , Miss Dunn . - Yes, Doctor. (crackling) (crackling) ( hissing) (crackling) (woman screaming) ( man) There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission . We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all you see and hear. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to The Outer Limits. (crackling) - Dr Stone, are you all right? - Did you see anything? - See anything? - Here, l'll do that. Thank you . - l heard you scream. - You look awful. l thought you were hurt. l must have stumbled over something. Where are those glasses? - Do we have the meteoric quartz used in these? - Yes, sir. - Enough for another pair. - l'll get a pair from one of the patients. Have Delta Optics make them up. l want this exact prescription . - Do you understand, Miss Dunn ? - Yes, sir. -Now, Miss Dunn . - Yes, sir. - lf you want me, l'll be at my brother's office. - l don 't mean to be difficult, but his secretary called. He will not see you without an appointment. That's nonsense. Call and say l'm coming over. - Good morning, Dr Stone. - Miss Willett. - Doctor, he's in a conference. - Miss Willett, l Has anyone told you without glasses, you're beautiful? l can 't let you in there. The entire committee on atomic space propulsion is here. Admiral Leighton , the chairman , is in that room. - l'm dreadfully sorry. l - lt's quite all right, Miss Willett. We must accustom ourselves to interruptions from my brother. James, it may interest you to know you are disrupting a conference with the atomic committee and Admiral Leighton . - Oh, Leighton . Yes, l - Shh! He's the one that calls me The Optical lllusion . And he's also the one who offered you a top-echelon position which you rejected. So l did, didn 't l? But that isn 't what l came to talk about. James, l am aware that your problem is more important than anybody else's, but just this once, couldn 't it wait? Now, Bernie, be nice. l just want a little information . Make yourself comfortable. Right, dimension . That's what it boils down to, dimension . We all know there are things that exist, material things we can 't see without the aid of unique lights or special lenses, just as there are certain sound frequencies we can 't hear. - Will you get to the point? - A question . Can a two-dimensional object exist in our frame of reference, and if it did, would it have material? Would it have mass? Miss Willett, will you please step in there and inform Admiral Leighton that l will be detained? - Yes, sir. - Oh, and obviously - ..l don 't want him to know why. - Stop acting so pompous and answer me. You know the question is senseless. How could anything exist in two dimensions? - Why couldn 't it? - Because, a you may have guessed, this is a three-dimensional world. Oh. What if it was from another world? - Hypothetically. - Hypothetically, anything is possible. All right, let's pursue the hypothesis. Supposing there was this this thing lt had height, width ..contour but no depth. No other dimension unless you admit its existence in time, in which case, it would have dimensions one, two and four, but no third. - Alive? - Oh, yes, indeed, to the extent that it moves and acts upon its environment. lmpossible! That would defy every known scientific principle. Well, you'd better find some other principles, because l think l just saw one. - ln the street, l presume? -No. lt was in my lab. l had on some special glasses and there he was. l've been thinking about it. lt's absolutely fascinating. lf you look at a two-dimensional thing straight on , you can see it as plainly as l see you , but when it turns sideways, you can 't see it at all. How do you know it was two-dimensional? Because when he when he turned sideways to me, he disappeared. Now yo u see t, now yo u don't. lf it wanted to go through a wall, it could if it turned sideways. But when it becomes a line, it still can 't go through the wall. - Miss Willett - l'm sorry. No, never mind. When l turn this, it becomes a line because it has this dimension , but this thing does not have that dimension , ergo nothing. l think that's how it got out. There is one thing that concerns me. What if it tried to go through a wall straight on ? Think that over, big brother. Miss Willett. Miss Willett, l think my brother is really ill. Oh! George George Wilkenson ? Hmm? George? My name is Dr James Stone. Do you remember me? - Yeah. - l stopped by your house for some glasses. They told me you'd had an accident. l know this is no time to bother you , but could l have those spectacles? The police didn 't tell you what happened? - The glasses are gone. - What? An instant before the accident, something tore them off my face. Something? What kind of something? You wouldn 't believe me. Nobody believes me. They think l'm crazy. Well, l'm not! Do you hear me? l'm not! l tell you l saw a creature, something so frightening that George, when you got the glasses, two other people were there. Do you remember their names? Think hard, George. This is important. Do you remember who they were? l don 't know the man but l talked to the girl. Her name was - ..Rita Morgan , l think. - George, please help me. Do you have any idea where she lives? Think real hard. This is important. - Please. - l don 't remember exactly. - Try real hard. Help me, George. - Somewhere in the Rossmore district. The Rossmore district? Thank you , George. - This could make us look bad. - You got any ideas? You give me two things to put together and l'll add them up, but this? No c u e , no modtus operand , no noth ng - lf we could only find a motive. - Or a suspect. (pounding on the door) - Guess who's here. - l've got no time for games. Bring him in . - What brings you here, Doctor? - Curiosity, l suppose. Don 't touch the evidence, Doctor. - What have you got to do with her? -Nothing. Just a friend. - You got any more? - l don 't understand. A report just came in . We've got a case like this on the East Side. ( TV) Police are dispersing crowds as rapidly as possible but the curious keep arriving. Unauthorised persons are warned to stay out of the area. We now return you to our main studio. The most incredible thing in the history of this city. Police admit themselves baffled. For those just tuning in , the 37-storey security building at First and Grand has been sheared so cleanly that it has not toppled. Miss Dunn , about those glasses we distributed l know the first two, George Wilkenson and Rita Morgan . Who was the third? He was a thick-set man . As we said, the occurrence answers to no logical explanation . l'm watching television , but he hasn 't said anything about Shh ..monster which sheared through the walls of his workshop. - Yes, l'm listening. - The welder, John Kowalski, is being questioned by police, who are inclined to discredit his testimony because until recently, he is alleged to have suffered double vision , which was cured by special lenses he was wearing at the time. Scientists are being questioned in the hope that they can throw some light (switches off TV) Hello. Yes, the whole thing is incredible. l know this is an imposition , but about those glasses we ordered, could you do something for me? l've got a follow-up assignment on this case, Doctor, and so far, l'm flying blind as a bat. As far as your brother's concerned - Any answer, Miss Willett? -Not yet, sir. l have no idea what my brother was doing in that apartment. l see no reason to disbelieve him. Certainly not because of the building. What what kind of a thing could cut through an entire building? A laser could. A laser can cut anything, but not on a broad front. The essence of laser power is a concentration of light energy. What about the monster Kowalski said he saw? Such a thing would defy every known scientific principle. lt would have to be a monster. - Haven 't you heard from my brother yet? -Not yet, sir. - You said it would have to be what, Doctor? - Oh, please! Until we have time to examine all the evidence, it's ridiculous to speculate. - l'm sorry, sir. His home doesn 't answer. - Then try his office, and keep ringing. - Half the time, he doesn 't answer his phone. - Yes, Doctor. (telephone rings) ( knock at the door) ( knocking continues) Dr Stone - Dr Stone - What is it? Oh, have you been here long? - l came as quickly as l could. - Fine. Come here and sit down . - There was enough quartz for two pairs. - Splendid. - Miss Dunn , you've been with me some time. - Three years. That should be long enough. - What do you think of me? - Pardon ? Do you think of me in terms of? Do you think l'm a rational human being? l know it's a silly question , but you're aware that people say l'm irresponsible and absent-minded and What was that other word that Detective Runyan used? A weirdo. - Does it matter what anyone says? - Well, l'm not irresponsible. l'm preoccupied from time to time, that's true, but that doesn 't mean What l'm trying to say is, supposing l told you something that seemed incomprehensible? Would you think it was another of my idiosyncrasies? - l'd believe most anything you told me. - Thank you . l must warn you , my brother thought l was light-headed when l told him. - Didn 't you used to wear your hair differently? -No, sir. That's strange. Suddenly, you look different. - Dr Stone - Yes? You were about to tell me something l wouldn 't believe. Oh. Exactly. Well, as you know, there's something in this city that isn 't of this world. l don 't know how it got here, but it's trying to get back where it came from. - Well, where's that? - l don 't know that either. - But l know it's a world other than this one. - How can you be sure? Well, this thing, whatever it is, exists in only two planes of reference, somewhat like an image on a motion picture screen . - And it's alive? - Very much so. - How is that possible? - That's another question l can 't answer. But l saw it in this office this morning. Why should these lenses make him visible when nothing else does? Perhaps because they're made from material which came from another world. - What? - Meteoric quartz. - You said it had unusual refraction indices. - That's it, meteoric quartz! Of course! - And this thing attacked you? - l don 't think so. - He wanted the glasses so l couldn 't see him. - But why? While he was invisible, he felt safe. When he realised l was seeing him, he took the glasses and the names of the people who had the others. - What?! - l couldn 't remember Kowalski's name. l came found the page missing. That's how he found Wilkenson , Kowalski and Miss Morgan . - Then he's rational. -Not only is he rational, he's intelligent. - l wish there was a way to communicate. - Perhaps there is. What do you mean ? Well, he knows you designed the spectacles, and doesn 't that indicate he may come here? ( knock at the door) - James, l've got to talk to you . - l'm always accessible. Miss Dunn , this is my brother, Dr Bernard Stone. - How do you do? - How do you do, Doctor? James This is a matter of the utmost urgency. Very well. You came to me with a wild story about a two-dimensional creature that can cut through walls. - Yes. - Well, l'm afraid l may have been - Well, l was a little brusque. - Bernie, what do you want? James, l must know Were you in earnest? - Did you really see something? - Yes. But how? How could anything just slice through a building? l've been thinking about that. ln my opinion , he's a living laser, composed of light particles that expand or contract at will. Such a thing would have destructive powers beyond comprehension ! True, but with all this power, isn 't it curious that he hasn 't done more damage? Great Scott, man ! He sliced through a building! Are you saying that isn 't destructive? lf it had been occupied, people might have been killed. All l'm saying is l'm convinced it wasn 't intentional. lf he could destroy that building, he could destroy the city. And just because the damage is unintentional, are we supposed to stand and watch while this thing, whatever it is, spreads havoc? He's an entity caught in a world he doesn 't understand. - He's frightened. - You think. l'd bet my life on it. He could have killed me and he didn 't. Yes. That reminds me. There's something l want to talk to you about. l just heard that this this welder What's his name? - Kowalski. - Yes, Kowalski ..was wearing spectacles you made for him when he saw this thing. - That's true. - And l also recall you were wearing spectacles when you say you saw it. Yes. - These ones? - Leave those alone. - Very interesting. - Bernie, give me those glasses. Meteoric quartz, l think you said. All in good time. l don 't see anything unusual about these glasses. As a matter of fact (crackling) My - (crackling) - ls it? Yes. - Elizabeth, please don 't. - l want to see. (gasps) lf you can understand me, do you have a name? l am called Eck. - How is it you can communicate with us? - l cannot explain . l absorb. l integrate. know - Were you afraid of being seen ? - Yes. - Why have you changed? - l am no longer afraid. - l'm aware that you wish to help me. - l'll do anything l can to help. - But l don 't know where to begin . - You know about light and vision . l am almost blind, which is why l have grown so many eyes. - They're not normally a part of you? - l do not see with what you call eyes. But when l broke the time barrier, something happened to my sensors. - l can 't find my way back. - How did you get here? Through a time warp. You would not understand. l opened a narrow passage into your world. l came through by mistake. -Now l cannot find my way back. - You must know where the passage is. Yes, l know. lt is above the public square. - lf you know where it is, why can 't you go back? - l have told you l cannot see it clearly. My vision is blurred. lf it is left open and something of your world goes through it, it may rip the entire fabric of time and destroy the world. - But what can we do to help? - l need your lenses to correct my vision . l have designed my eyes on your principles, but something is wrong. l've been through a half dozen laboratories searching for other lenses but nothing helps, not even the ones you made. You must make a new lens for me. - To do that, l would need your eyes. - l will give you one. Here. Gentlemen , l know you find this difficult to believe, and l don 't blame you . When my brother told me he had seen this thing, l didn 't believe him, but you know me. You know my reputation . You know l do not imagine horrors. l saw this thing through those glasses, and l am not going out of my mind. No one thinks you are going out of your mind, Doctor. These frames belong to Kowalski, the welder, who claims he saw the same thing you saw. George Wilkenson had these. He drove through a freeway divider into a multiple collision . Those frames were found near the accident. And Rita Morgan ..died this evening of a heart attack, induced, we think, by the sight of what you described. My brother made all these? They were ground by Delta Optical, but designed by Dr James Stone. He provided the material for their manufacture. l can 't contradict it, and l tell you this thing has a potential for destruction beyond our comprehension . - How do you fight it? - How do you attack what you don 't see? lf my brother made these, he probably has more. All right, Doctor, let's go. - There is a time limit. - What? There is nothing on your planet to sustain me. l cannot assimilate three-dimensional food. l'm growing weaker. lf l die, the time passage will remain open . Sooner or later a bird or aircraft will go through it and destroy your world. Only l can close it as l leave. - How much time do l have? - l can only survive between sunrises. - 24 hours. - 24 hours? What's left of it, that is. l can survive until the sun comes up again . l'll do the best l can , but 24 hours, even less ( knock at the door) Yes? Sorry to disturb you , but we'd like to talk to you . Come in . - l don 't know how to begin . - Tell me what you want. - We want your help. - To do what? - To capture this thing. - Capture him or destroy him? - James, if you had any sense - l'll do the talking if you don 't mind. Your brother explained that you think this thing doesn 't intend any harm. - He doesn 't. - How can you be sure? - You'll just have to take my word for it. - l see. l'd like you to see it from my standpoint, Doctor. - My job is to protect the public. - l'm aware of that. And l assure you , if you trust me, there'll be no more trouble. - You're asking a lot. - That's because l have to. l can 't explain , but l promise there'll be no more incidents. All l ask is eight hours. - To do what? - You wouldn 't understand. do n't su poose yo u d g ve u s some g asses ust n case ? j - Sorry. - So am l, Doctor, but let me warn you . lf your brother is right, if the destruction potential of this monster is as great as he thinks ..the lives of everyone in this city are in your hands. l hope you're aware of the enormity of that responsibility. - Couldn 't he be forced to cooperate? - l don 't know, but l'll try and find a way. l hope he knows what he's doing. - Eck? Eck? Are you still here? - l am here. - l'm sorry about what happened. - Why do they want to destroy me? - They're afraid. - l do not mean any harm. - l know that, but they don 't. - l was frightened. - By what? - Are you aware that Kowalski had a fire gun ? Fire can destroy me as it would paper or leaves. lunderstand. ln my world, nothing can prevail against fire. - Eck, can you tell us about your world? - You could not understand. lt is too different, too far-removed from anything you could imagine. - lt is not even a world as you think of it. - l see. Elizabeth, will you turn on the television ? Eck, you'd better stay here. You'll be safer. - l will remain . - Good. ..the terrifying prospect of dealing with this building that stands in our midst so precariously. - City officials have been in constant - ( Eck) He's two-dimensional! lt is their feeling that a disaster is not imminent. A disaster is not - Maybe he can show me the way out! - Eck, no! No, Eck! No! Look! He's luminous! The electricity is probably disseminated. Now everyone can see him. (crackling) (screams) He's my brother, but l've never been able to figure him out. What did he mean when he promised that nothing else would happen ? Heaven only knows. All my life, l've been trying to understand him. But this lt's impossible to believe the government can 't find some way to force him to cooperate. Your brother's a private citizen , Dr Stone. He has certain inalienable rights. Well, but not when the safety of the entire country is at stake. lt seems to me there should be some writ or order that can be issued against him. Dr Stone, you can order a man to be seized, searched, and to cease what he's doing, but there is no order to make a man talk when he refuses to. You say, Mr Grayson , you jumped clear of the car before it caught fire? - l'm lucky to be alive. - And this thing, this monster was still there? lt was there all right. You can be sure of that, hovering, glowing and shooting off sparks. - But it left the moment the gas tank exploded? - Like a banshee. Fire. That's our weapon . Sergeant, get on the phone. Tell them we need a flamethrower. - lf it shows up, we know what to do. - Suppose it doesn 't? - One man can tell us if it will. - l'll talk to him. You just do that, Doctor. You lay it on the line. - lf he's protecting it, he's in trouble. - l'll make sure he understands. (crackling) Eck? Eck, l think l've got it. Elizabeth! Elizabeth! l've found the key. Look. This is the formula for the normal aberrational coefficients, right? This is the same formula altered by the sign for Young's aplanatic spheres and corrected for X-relative refraction index, in this case, plus three as opposed to plus one. But aren 't these formulas based on a standard optic geometry? Of course. That's the point. They must be. - And the lenses will be glass. -Not meteoric quartz? Eck is from another world. We need material from another world to see him. By that token , for him to see in our environment, Eck, l don 't know if you'll understand this, but on Earth, optical systems generally have only one set of aplanatic surfaces, but the eyes you have made for yourself have at least twelve. We also have coefficients of aberrations numbering as many as 35, but your system has 280, and that's five times the Earth maximum. l am sorry to have caused so much difficulty. The important thing is that we correct your vision . - l think l can , only - Only what? - Only how can it be done in time? - l'll have to make the lenses myself. - You know what l'll need. Will you get it for me? - Yes, sir. - (gasps) - Where is my brother? - Sorry, Doctor, you can 't go in there. - Why not? - Because Dr Stone cannot be disturbed. - Young lady, stand out of my way. - What do you want? - l want to talk. - We have nothing to talk about. - You had better listen . - We know how to destroy your monster. - Oh? With fire. We expect your help, James. - You'd better go before l throw you out. - Don 't threaten me. l came to make you see reason . l know you want to protect this monstrosity. Why, l don 't know. Over 1 00 people are hospitalised. Half the city's without power because of this creature you say is harmless! lnever said that. l said he didn 't intend harm. You also gave your word there would be no more trouble. - Well, l never dreamed -No. That's the point. You don 't know what it will do. What's to prevent, boom, the whole city? - There won 't be a next time. - Who'll believe that? We have never agreed on anything, but listen to me. Eck blundered into our world. He's trying to find his way back. - Pure supposition . -No, take my word for it. He came through a passageway in time, and that doorway is still open . lf anything fell through, like a bird or a plane, it could rip the fabric of time and destroy our world. - How do you know all this? - l've spoken to him. You've spo? You'll say anything, won 't you? You'll say anything and you'll do anything so you can mastermind this affair. Bernie, for once in your life, take something on faith. - This poor creature is risking his life to save us. - Save us? He doesn 't want a disaster. He's trying to prevent it. This is the thing you want to destroy. The admiral is right. You should be locked up. - l'll bet you've got that thing in here right now. - Bernie, get out! We're coming after him, James. l just hope you don 't try to stop us. Eck? Eck? - He's gone. - He must have heard the talk about fire. - He's visible. They'll find him. - What do we do? He'll come back. lf l can make those lenses, perhaps there's a chance. - What did you find out? -Not very much. - What about that monster? ls it there? - l don 't know. l tried to get into my brother's office but he came out. lt must be there. We've got the building surrounded, haven 't we, Sergeant? - Every inch. - Remember now, it's luminous. We just have to look for a glow. l don 't think it can get away. - When will that flamethrower be here? - Six minutes. - l think we're on the right track. - l'll alert the men . - (thrumming) - (radib ) Let's look at the weather situation . - The county may expect - That completes it. Mid-morning temperature should be in the mid-70s. -Now for the frames. - A weather front moving in from the west should bring lower temperatures. The mountain and resort areas may expect snow with increasing northwesterly winds. The weather bureau reports that the balance of the week should be sunny. l'm so glad, Doctor, for him. Warning. The police are ordering all citizens out of the area adjacent to the Optical Center research building on Maple Street and 27th. There is a report that The Thing is in the building. A blockade is being thrown around all entrances. - What in the world will we do? - Right, move in . Move in . - You must not do this. - Get this man out. - There's no need to harm him. - James, the thing must go. - Jackson . - Eck! Clear this room. Everybody. There it is. All right, let him have it. Clear out of here. - l'm sorry, James. - l'll bet you are. - How does it feel to be a deliberate murderer? - We destroyed a monster, a thing that was a menace to the people in this community. - ( hissing) - ( Eck) Dr Stone? - Eck! - l'm here. - But l thought - l wasn 't actually in the office. - But the glow? - l transferred some energy to the statue. Eck, you're wonderful. Thank you . And l want to thank you , Doctor, before it's too late, for what you tried to do. lt was too much to expect in so short a time. lt might have been more merciful if they'd succeeded in destroying him. - The lens! - You have it? l only had time to make one, but l think it'll work. l can see! Now l can find the opening of the passageway into time. Oh, thank you ! l will remember you both always. We'll remember you too, Eck. (clunking) lt's three-dimensional. lt won 't go through the wall. - lt is a problem. - Give it to me. We'll meet you at the square. l will wait for you . Shall we go to the square and say goodbye to a friend? ( man) Paradoxically, man 's search for knowledge has too often plundered his courage and warped his vision so that he has faced the unknown with terror rather than awe, and probed the darkness with a scream rather than a light. Yet there have always been men who have touched the texture of tomorrow with understanding and with courage. Through these men , we may yet touch the stars. We now return control of your television set to you until next week at this same time when the control voice will take you to ..The Outer Limits.